majolica

/məˈd͡ʒɒlɪkə/

Etymology

From Italian maiolica, named after the Island of Mallorca (formerly known as Maiòlica), which was once a commerce center for work produced in Valencia, Spain. Doublet of Mallorca and Majorca.

majolica means Earthenware decorated with coloured lead silicate glazes applied directly to an unglazed body, a process invented in Victorian England. Lexicurio rates it Evocative — a strength score of 53 out of 100.

Why this word is great

MAJOLICA — [Noun] A type of earthenware pottery, historically defined by its opaque white tin-glaze painted with vibrant metal oxide enamels, or, in its later Victorian incarnation, by colored lead-silicate glazes applied directly to the biscuit body. From Italian *maiolica*, named after the island of Mallorca (formerly *Maiòlica*), a major trade center for this type of pottery, from Medieval Latin *Mājorica* (Majorca). Unlike *faience*, which specifies the French tradition of tin-glaze, or *delftware*, which conjures the restrained, cobalt-blue landscapes of the Netherlands, majolica is an ebullient shout of polychrome. It is the cobalt-blue dolphin curling on a pharmacy jar, the thick, cucumber-cool sheen of a lettuce-leaf plate, and the stored-sunlight warmth of its copper greens glowing in a dim room—a durable, fired frivolity that outlives the hands that painted it, a testament to the desire to coat humble earth in enduring, cheerful light.

noun

Earthenware decorated with coloured lead silicate glazes applied directly to an unglazed body, a process invented in Victorian England.“The Italian Vase [top, left, p.8] is Majolica, […] The Ewer [bottom, middle, p.8] is a Palissy vase.”
Earthenware coated with opaque white tin-glaze, decorated with coloured metal oxide enamel, first created in Renaissance Europe.“The Italian pottery, generally known under the names of Majolica, Raffaelle ware, and sometimes by the term of "Umbrian ware," through the production of the fifteenth century […].”